The Tulsa Golden Hurricane enter Year #2 of the Philip Montgomery regime and I think this team has it in them to be an improved squad this season following a 6-7 campaign last year. This program was turned into a disaster area by Bill Blankenship during his tenure in Tulsa but Montgomery in just his first year on the job as head coach took the team from 2-10 in 2014 to a 6-6 mark and a bowl game last year. Senior QB Dane Evans is back to lead what should be a very good offense. Evans had a 63% completion rate with 25 TD’s and just 8 INT’s last season and should be even better in 2016.

The offensive line has 4 returning starters and they have plenty of playmakers at the RB and WR skill positions to be able to put up points in bunches. Tulsa is in need of improvement on defense which was their problem last season and they should get it with 7 starters back on that side of the football including 4 of their top 5 tacklers. The Golden Hurricane should be better against the run where they got carved up last season for 240 rush yards per game.

The DL returns 3 starters and everyone starting along that unit is either a junior or senior. The LB corps has increased depth and experience and the secondary has 6 of their top 8 returning and should improve from last year’s poor 113th ranking in the country against the pass. San Jose State will try to improve to 6+ wins this season after going 5-7 a year ago as they enter their 4th season with Ron Carragher as head coach. They should have a competitive outfit in the Mountain West but I do have some concerns as they play their first game of the season here on the road.

I normally don’t overreact to RB departures but the loss of Tyler Ervin from last year’s squad is a big one. He was everything to the San Jose State offense and broke the school’s single-season rushing record last season and adding to the issues facing them is the ineligibility of senior WR Tyler Winston due to academic reasons. Both of those absences will lead to big shoes to fill for this offense. Spartans QB Kenny Potter looks to be a solid one and has dual-threat capabilities but the defense could be an early season concern for the Spartans. They break in a new DC in former Eastern Michigan head coach Ron English and even though the system is expected to remain largely unchanged (will remain a 4-3 defensive scheme), there still could be a bit of an early season learning curve for that group.

San Jose State looks weakest in the secondary entering the season and that is not where you want to be weak going up against Dane Evans and a strong Tulsa aerial attack. San Jose State lost a pair of their best CB’s from last season’s 2nd ranked pass defense with Cleveland Wallace and Jimmy Pruitt departing and those San Jose State vulnerabilities in the secondary could be exploited here by an explosive Tulsa passing attack. San Jose State started slowly last season and dropped each of their two September road games last season against Air Force and Oregon State losing by 14+ points in both games. This is a reasonable price to lay with Tulsa (from the superior conference) at less than a TD at home in this game and I expect the Golden Hurricane to be an improved team and a possible money maker this season starting right here.

Free College Football Pick: Tulsa -5 (-105) Best Line Offered:at Heritage